The Lens
by Kyoshi Slickfish
Summary: High school sweethearts are going through a little trouble: Darien Shields wonders why his girlfriend Serena Tsukino is avoiding him. Things just aren't what they seem... Complete!


Ahoy, ahoy! This is a short story I wrote for my English Composition class back in high school...yeah, from like, 3 years ago. It's not that great and it's really short, but it brings back memories (Mrs. Rockwood is based on my Comp teacher. She is oOOo0oold!)

In greater news, during Thanksgiving break, I went to my favorite comic book store and bought the remaining 2 Sailor Moon manga volumes I was missing! Yay! Staring at my completed collection makes me happy!

English dubbed names. Comments and reviews (good or bad) are appreciated!

* * *

**Through the Lens**

Friday morning in picturesque Santa Ria, California, peeked its yellow rays of sunlight through the window shades and awoke a rumpled figure in bed. Darien, his head of ebony hair standing in miscellaneous directions, groaned and fumbled around his nightstand for his portable phone. Darien's fingers pushed the Memory 4 button.

"You have reached the Tsukino residence; please leave a message after the tone. Beep!"

Darien breathed heavily, contemplating on whether to leave a message. He hung up, unable to think of anything new to say to her, and lifted a small, gray video camera. Darien opened a lifeless, black screen and switched the camera on. Lying on his back, he curved the corner of his mouth into a smile.

"Hello, Care Bear!" he said into the lens. Darien zoomed the camera until it framed his face. Darien noticed a cut under his right eye healed into a permanent scar. He ran a long finger over it before smiling again. "It's been three days since I've last seen you, but I think about you all the time, from the moment I wake up. I love you!"

Energized after he "spoke" to his girlfriend, Darien slowly dressed for the monotony of another day at school. He pulled on khaki jeans and a plain black shirt, packed his mini-camera, and slung his backpack over his right shoulder. He needed to last through school to the weekend, and he wouldn't have completely lost his mind. In Government, Darien drew in his sketch book, complex designs meandering across the paper while his teacher droned on about…something.

_"Missster Shieldsss,"_ spat Mrs. Rockford. She was the strictest teacher in the county, and just as old. Although five feet tall, "The Rock" outlived two husbands and routinely dressed in a turquoise shawl with her powder white hair in a tight bun. Darien especially hated when she pronounced any word with the letter S because they ran together like a lizard hissing at its prey. "_Isss_ my lecture boring you, _Ssssir_?"

Mrs. Rockford slithered between the three desks toward Darien, slammed his sketch book shut, and took it to her desk. Fortunately, the class ended in ten excruciating minutes, and Darien trudged to lunch. Amidst the crowd of a hundred students packed in the cafeteria, he found his friends and sat at a table across them.

Andrew, a muscular blonde in his varsity football jacket, hoarded an armload of four textbooks to the table. They fell to the wood surface with loud thuds before he tiredly dropped himself. "I better be careful before I learn something this year," he joked before stuffing half of a Power Bar in his mouth. Darien laughed and shook his head. "I can't concentrate on anything else except for the game tonight…and the possibility of another victory party on Saturday."

A troupe of girls shot Darien questioning looks as they passed his table. Then their gaze turned to venomous disapproval before they sat down several tables away. _"Girls,"_ Darien thought, shaking his head.

"The jock's modesty never ceases to amaze me," interrupted a petite girl holding a neat stack of yellow, pink, and goldenrod papers. Her full mane of shimmering gold hair and sky blue eyes made Darien's heart skip beats whenever he saw her…and she was his girlfriend.

"Ouch, Serena," Andrew replied, playfully gripping his heart. " 'The Jock' has feelings too! What are all those papers for? Our college applications aren't due until April."

"For your information, Drew, if you wait until April to send your application, you'll be stuck playing football with yourself at home in the fall," she retorted. Serena tapped the papers on the table and promptly flipped them face-down.

"So what are those? I'm sure you're not practicing to be a secretary when you grow up."

Serena's pink lips pressed firmly into a thin line and opened them to reply. However, no sound came out, her eyebrows arched in surprise, and only a breath escaped. "Mr. Thomas wanted me to fill these out," she said, her eyes lowering to the table and avoiding Andrew's gaze. "Mr. Thomas…and Officer Phillips."

Andrew slowly nodded his head as he chewed the last part of his Power Bar. Disgusted, Serena shuddered as she saw the think lump travel down Andrew's throat. "Officer Phillips and our principal want you to fill out these classified papers?" he asked, causally tossing the cellophane wrapper in a nearby trashcan. He tapped an index finger on his square chin, pretending to be in deep thought. "Which poor teacher did you harass this week?"

Darien laughed, and Serena's eyes quickly averted to Darien's steel blue orbs, their gazes locking in an explosive instant. Darien shut his mouth and noticed The Rock quietly gliding behind Serena with a rather bothered look fossilized on her ancient face.

"Serena!" The girl jumped in surprise. She faced her addressor. "_Mr. Thomasss requestsss_ to _sssee_ you."

Shuffling her papers again, Serena swiftly exited from the table and hurried to the school's front office, her long hair billowing behind her.

* * *

"Darien! Darien, wait for me!"

After school, Andrew trotted next to his skinnier friend and pounded him on the back. Darien popped the lens cap on his camera before replying. "What's new, Andrew?" he asked politely.

Andrew shrugged his broad shoulders, uncomfortable with the formal greeting. "I was about to ask you the same thing. I didn't see you at all today, so I wondered if you're going to the game tonight. Your camera is invited too."

Darien laughed thinly. "I think we'll pass on that, but thanks for inviting us. We appreciate it."

Andrew nodded, but as Darien bared his back, he called out again. "I heard about you and Serena. When were you going to tell me about it?"

"You need to know about our six month anniversary?" Darien replied, his voice strained from walking backwards.

"You really are a weird kid, Darien Shields!" Andrew yelled at the receding figure. There was no response. Andrew sighed and walked with his books to his bus.

Darien strode home in peaceful solitude, his feet crunching on dry fall leaves. In five minutes, he bounded up the steps of his white apartment building, burst through his front door, and jumped acrobatically onto his bed. Darien pushed Memory 4, and three rings sounded in the receiver.

"You have reached the Tsukino residence; please leave a message after the tone. Beep!"

"I missed you at lunch, Serena. Call me if you received your present in your locker."

Beep!

* * *

"You have reached the Tsukino residence; please leave a message after the tone. Beep!"

Darien hung up the phone and stared at the popcorn ceiling. He thought about Serena, her papers, and nothing more, for there was Andrew's party to attend. Darien dressed himself in a jade green hooded sweater and baggy jeans. Armed with his video camera, he departed on foot two blocks down the street to a large Victorian home packed with dozens of celebratory high school students. Standing in the lawn, and a pile of silly string, Darien opened the side screen and recorded the wild scene of inhibited teenagers. He carefully ascended the front steps, and entering the living room booming with rock music.

"Darien! I thought you weren't coming!" Andrew yelled over the din. He wrapped his arm around Darien's shoulders and led him to the kitchen, easily pushing the bodies of others in their way with his large frame. Andrew closed the side viewing panel as he placed a beer in Darien's other hand. "Tonight, stop playing with that camera of yours and mingle with your peers...talking, no filming."

"But I love filming, Andrew," he protested, squeezing his beloved camera to his side as Andrew tried to take it from him. Suddenly, Darien pushed the other man away with surprising force.

Holding up his hands, Andrew coolly took a sip from his beer. "Whatever you want, man. Just call me Drew, okay?"

Andrew whooped to the music before abandoning his friend for a pack of girls huddled in the next room. Placing the beer in the refrigerator, Darien re-opened the window and navigated through the crowd. He panned each face until he found her sitting at the edge of the pool. Serena's long legs submerged in the water and the moonlight reflected onto her body cast a spell on Darien. He needed to ask her why she wasn't picking up her phone. Darien lowered the camera, but as he stepped outside, another girl ran up to Serena and pulled her from the water. Unnerved by her elusiveness, Darien shut his eyes to clear his mind.

"These parties are ridiculous," he thought contemptuously. "I'll just talk to Serena in person tomorrow morning."

Darien hurried out of Andrew's house and ran down the street. Unbeknownst to him, a pair of blue eyes followed his retreating figure. Andrew shook his head. "That is one weird kid," he said before returning to his party.

* * *

Dressed in his best suit, Darien eagerly sat in the back of the chapel awaiting for Serena's arrival. Because it was an integral part of his girlfriend's life, Serena inspired him to have faith in something instead of relying on himself. Finally, the blonde angel stepped through a door of the chapel. She lifted her pointed nose to search for a seat, a row several feet in front of Darien's position. He stretched his neck and caught that Serena also searched for him. She locked eyes with Darien, but quickly turned away, pulling on the blue sleeve of an unfamiliar, older man. He immediately sat next to her and Serena whispered something in his ear.

That was the last straw. Darien rejected his girlfriend's secretiveness and demanded to know her motivations for the past few days. He only thought of how to approach Serena, and when the congregation was dismissed, Darien sprang from his seat, trying to cross the packed aisles of worshippers.

"Serena! SERENA!" he shouted in a last attempt to catch her attention. Darien remained isolated from his beloved girlfriend as she exited through the same door where she entered.

"You have reached the Tsukino residence; please leave a message after the tone. Beep!"

* * *

Still furious, Darien unusually looked forward to the start of another school week. He shoved his video camera in his backpack and left his apartment twenty minutes early. A few students walked though the halls, busy taking tests or serving detentions in the several classrooms he passed.

"Maybe she's in guidance asking for college advice," he thought aloud. Darien flanked the corner, heading straight to the front office, and opened the door. He bumped into Principal Thomas.

"Mister Shields," he said with a glare in his eyes. "How fortunate I am to have run into you. Please, I need to speak with you in my office."

He outstretched his arm towards the tiny room with a desk and a solitary window. However plain inside, it certainly was not unoccupied. A tall figure stared at a plaque on the left wall. Instantly Darien recognized him as the man from church.

Phillips smiled stiffly at Darien before reaching out to shake his hand. Instead, Darien faced Mr. Thomas. "What's going on?" he asked timidly.

Unfazed by Darien's dismissal, Officer Phillips proceeded to answer his question. "Darien, you may refer to me as Officer Phillips, and I am here to address a certain issue with yourself and Miss Serena Tsukino." The color in Darien's face drained instantly. "She had expressed concerns of an apparent stalker and recently filed papers for a restraining order against you."

"Please sit down," Mr. Thomas said sternly. Darien quietly obeyed. "This is a rather serious charge and sits on the grounds of expulsion."

Phillips held up a hand to stop the verbal attacks. He sat in a chair opposite of the younger man and cocked his head to the side. "How is your eye? Looks like that window you smashed through in the Tsukino home left you with a permanent souvenir. You're lucky they decided not to press charges, but I should have blown the whistle on you before you started to harass her."

"I have not been harassing Serena!" Darien hissed back. "I'm her boyfriend!"

"Not anymore!" Phillips roared back. Darien shirked back into his leather seat, gripping the ends of the arms with his long fingers. "Somewhere in there is a smart kid who knows that calling two or three times a day, following an unsuspecting girl at lunchtime in school or to a party, and taking your obsession to church are all clear signs of stalking. Somewhere in there, that kid lost sight of reality too."

"You have no proof," Darien retorted, his voice wavering in security. His knuckles turned white from the stress on the armrests, and he squirmed in his seat.

Officer Phillips piled the top of the desk with two tapes, labeled _"To Serena"_. The same used in a handheld video camera, Phillips then confiscated the evidence from inside Darien's backpack. Finally, he revealed a mini-tape recorder from his coat pocket and pressed the green play button.

_" 'Serena, did you get my present?' _

_'Serena, pick up the phone!' _

_'I know you're there, Serena' ..."_

Darien broke down. He bent forward, cupped his face with his hands, and sometimes ran them through his ebony hair. "I'm not crazy," he protested. "I talked to Serena and Andrew on Friday at lunch!"

"Talking with them, no…Sitting across from them, an entire table away, yes," replied Mr. Thomas. "We have camera footage of Friday's lunchtime, and Mrs. Rockford witnessed you two tables away from Miss Tsukino. Mrs. Rockford also returns this to you, because you might want it for where Officer Phillips is planning on sending you."

Mr. Thomas slid Darien's sketchbook across his desk. Darien quickly snatched it and flipped through the pages. He had drawn pictures of Sereba from every angle and quirky phrases like "Serena and Darien forever". Terrified, he looked up to the two older men. He didn't remember when he drew these pictures or followed his ex-girlfriend around, or even worse, what they had planned for him.

"We've been watching you for several weeks," Mr. Thomas replied quietly. "Miss Tsukino has been in counseling ever since she ended her relationship with you and has expressed her concern for her safety. She, as well as your peers, have been worried about your emotional state after you've been randomly berating them for information about Miss Tsukino or follow them in and out of school.

"I addressed these issues to your father. He's a busy man, very hard to get in contact with especially after his wife left him before you moved to California. He agreed to sign you over to the Juvenile Psychiatric Ward of Santa Ria, located 40 miles from here. There, after rigorous therapy sessions, you'll continue your education as a boarding patient. This is only a temporary solution…"

"No!" Darien screamed, clutching his sketch book like a stuffed animal.

"Yes, Darien! You need help!" Phillips bellowed back. Darien jumped from the chair, but the two men pinned the teen down on the floor, and Phillips bound his wrists with handcuffs. He pulled Darien to his feet, moving him out of the office.

"I am not crazy!" shrieked Darien, his voice echoing through the school halls. The entering students turned their heads to stare at the commotion from one of their own. His face bright red, he begged and struggled against the officer. "I swear I got this scar from running into a tree. Call my friend Andrew, he can testify to that! I am not a stalker; Mrs. Rockford just doesn't like me! Talk to my Care Bear, she's just upset were not together anymore! Serena! Serena, don't let them take me away from you! SERENA!"

Darien Shields' screams continued through the Santa Ria morning, bewildering the students who witnessed his public breakdown. Serena watched in the shadows of the hallway as her former boyfriend was carried kicking and screaming into an unmarked car waiting in the school parking lot.

She never saw him again.

* * *

Yes...there's the ending. My teacher said it was pretty dark for a short story for her class...nah. I found a lot of old stories I wrote, but I'm debating about posting them because I'd have to edit them. Bleh. For clarification, Darien never interacts with Andrew or Serena...he imagines everything during lunch. Andrew talks to him at the party, but Andrew doesn't know Darien, whereas Darien imagines them as friends. Deluded boy...

I have a LOT of pending ideas for new fanfics, including a Dead or Alive/ Sailor Moon crossover...but whether I mix them, I haven't decided, but there will be a new story with the Senshi as ninja. It'll be so kick ass::groans: I want an Xbox 360 and DOA 4 sooo bad!


End file.
